CM Punk, Booker T, Christian on Weigh In on Jeff Hardy’s Smackdown Storyline During WWE Backstage

The latest episode of WWE Backstage saw CM Punk, Booker T, and Christian share their thoughts on the controversial Jeff Hardy angle from last week’s Smackdown. The storyline saw Jeff Hardy get “arrested” after being suspected of hitting Elias with his car while drunk driving. Hardy was “cleared” of the charges and passed sobriety tests, leading to the implication that he was set up by someone.

All three members of the panel discussed what about the angle made them uncomfortable and why they didn’t think it was perhaps the best idea. Highlights are below:

CM Punk on if he thinks WWE pulled it off well: “Well, I’m speaking from experience here because obviously I worked extensively with Jeff. And he, at that point, was maybe not in a great spot in his life, both mentally and physically. We all know about Jeff’s past and his problems. My thing with this segment and this story is that I believe somebody’s sobriety is very important and very fragile.

“So, we discuss whether they should do this with Jeff or shouldn’t do this with Jeff. And you talk about how Jeff’s okay with it. Maybe it was his idea, he greenlit it, thumbs up. To me, it’s the responsibility of the writers, promoter — whoever — to get in front of that and say, ‘No, we’re not doing this to Jeff again. We don’t need him to be in this position.’ I think cleaning your life up and being sober is something to be proud of, and we can champion that in different ways. I think this is the wrong way to go about it, you just don’t put him in front of that moving car.”

Christian on the segment: “You know, I feel kind of a lot of the same feelings that Punk does about it. But I also think that if, you know, if Jeff — I have to assume that he was okay with all of it. And if he was kind of dead set on it, then that’s one thing as well. I guess that the whole thing is to try to make him look like he was set up, right? So it’s to get heat on somebody else. I’m just not sure that this is the best way to do that.”

Booker T on what he thought of the segment: “Well, when I saw it, I was definitely perplexed. I felt a certain way, you know, I talked about that. When you feel a certain way about something, it actually grips at you, you can actually feel it inside. And you’ve gotta understand what era I’m from. I saw a lot of guys who had substance abuse problems. And a lot those guys are my friends, and those guys aren’t here today. So when I saw this go doing, I was like, ‘Man, it’s just like one of those things.’ But there again, Jeff, he’s been in the business for quite some time, he’s a guy that has been a part of real-life angles as well. So I just hope that everything turns out all right in the end.”

Punk on past real-life angles: “But it doesn’t work, does it? Remember in WCW when they did it with Scott Hall? You saw them do it with Hawk, too?”

Booker on the angles not working: “Every time you see something like that, it never really works out. It’s not really good for anyone, I don’t think. And do see Jeff make his triumphant return, I think Jeff is someone that should be placed in a certain light. It’s just not something you play with, in my opinion.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE Backstage with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.